With the British government in the final throes of its selection of a prime contractor for its next-generation aircraft carrier, BAE Systems--one of two contenders--has announced 1,000 job cuts in its naval business sector. The majority--700--will be at its Barrow-in-Furness shipyard in England, with a further 265 to be cut from the Clyde, in Scotland. BAE cited lack of work over the next four years as the reason, claiming timing had nothing to do with "the company's bid for the Future Aircraft Carrier prime contract." BAE is in competition with Thales for the contract.
Analytical Graphics Inc. has expanded a seven-year alliance with the Advanced Technology Group of Science Applications International Corp., giving the two a closer business relationship. AGI has worked with Huntsville, Ala.-based SAIC/ATG since 1995 to develop and offer the Missile Modeling Tools suite for realistic flight modeling of an array of missiles--and how to intercept them. MMT relies on Analytical Graphics' signature product, the Satellite Took Kit software.
The FAA's increasing dependence on congressional appropriations from the general fund spells trouble, according to Transportation Dept. Inspector General Kenneth Mead, and the agency needs to do a better job of controlling costs. The aviation trust fund gets its money from airline ticket taxes and thus has the same revenue problems as the airlines themselves, Mead notes. Meanwhile, the FAA's costs, especially for operations, keep growing.
Steven L. Messervy, U.S. Army assistant program executive officer for aviation and former project manager for aviation electronic systems at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., has received the National Defense Industrial Assn.'s Combat Survivability Award for Leadership. He was cited for his advocacy for aircraft survivability programs and for planning, developing and fielding all U.S. Army aircraft survivability equipment. Paul W.
As a captain for United Airlines, I must respond to Phillip Boughton's letter. He characterizes us as working in a "safe" environment. The first Americans murdered on Sept. 11, 2001, were pilots and flight attendants. Currently we have strengthened cockpit doors, have been trained on Tasers and been approved to carry firearms, and often carry plainclothes air marshals as passengers. A "safe" environment would not require any of these. This in addition to everyday high-altitude flight with exposure to copious amounts of radiation in thin recirculated air.
Textron Inc. has reported nearly a 50% drop in earnings per share and net income for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, 2002. They were $131 million, or 95 cents a diluted share, compared with $257 million, or $1.81 a share, in the prior year. For the full year, however, Textron's income more than doubled, to $364 million, or $2.60 per diluted share, compared with $166 million, or $1.16 a share, in 2001. Revenues for the year decreased by 13%, to $10.7 billion.
While not surprised, I was saddened to read that Boeing has decided to shut down the Sonic Cruiser program (AW&ST Jan.6, p. 31)--this from the company that led the world in the development of large swept-wing military and commercial aircraft in the 1950s and established a new and highly successful trend everywhere.
The U.S. Coast Guard is reviewing its aircraft fleet mix with an eye on emerging homeland security requirements, but a senior agency representative argues that that shouldn't stand in the way of formalizing an agreement for a new maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) next month.
Victorville Aerospace LLC, a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) center founded by former BAE Systems executives in Victorville, Calif., has acquired Impresa maintenance management software from Avexus Inc. Avexus will deliver Impresa as a hosted application. Dallas Airmotive has also chosen Impresa to manage MRO operations at all 16 of its facilities worldwide, where it will be deployed simultaneously over a one-year period.
Students and others nominated some 700 teachers last week in the first two days of NASA's new "Educator Astronaut" program, which aims to hire 3-6 qualified schoolteachers to train as astronauts for space shuttle missions. Barbara Morgan, backup to Teacher-In-Space Christa McAuliffe in 1986 and a full-fledged astronaut today, is set to kick off the program on a space station assembly mission this fall.
Standard & Poor's placed the credit ratings of American Airlines and its parent company, AMR Corp., on credit watch for possible downgrade last week, because of continuing heavy losses and diminishing sources of liquidity. American CEO Donald Carty has said the losses are "unsustainable" and could worsen if the U.S. goes to war with Iraq.
Japan's fiscal 2003 defense budget reflects its mounting concern over North Korea. The budget includes $2.2 million for the Technical Research and Development Institute's work on an unmanned high-altitude recon aircraft. The UAV is to have a 10-hr. patrol duration at 65,000 ft., and be equipped with an optical camera, infrared seeker and radar. Program development is expected to cost $16.2 million and be completed within five years. Key technologies slated: a new engine for high-altitude operations, and automatic takeoff-and-landing and collision-avoidance systems.
Procurement budgets for Japan's three military services have been set at $42.3billion for fiscal 2003 beginning Mar. 31, a slight dip (0.1%) from fiscal 2002. Forty-three aircraft will be purchased, six types each for the army (12 total aircraft) and navy (eight) and seven for the air force (23). In all, four fewer aircraft will be bought than in the current year. The navy will purchase an as yet-undesignated mine- sweeper/transport helicopter and seven Sikorsky/Mitsubishi SH-60K anti-submarine helicopters--the same as this year.
Dean Anderson (see photo) has become service center network director for the Dassault Falcon Jet Corp., Teterboro, N.J. He was liaison with fractional fleet operators.
EchoStar Communications Corp., which provides direct broadcast satellite (DBS) television products and services through its Dish network to more than 8 million customers across the U.S., may be courting a possible suitor in the form of a media conglomerate.
FedEx Express is scheduled to expand its all-cargo ATR 42 fleet to about 100 aircraft. The courier operator's fleet plan, although involving used aircraft only, is expected to give new life to the twin turboprop market, according to Avions de Transport Regional executives.
After running into heavy opposition, Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has dropped plans to ask seven local governments to share a third of the cost--about $2.56 billion--of construction of a fourth runway at Tokyo's Haneda airport, which serves domestic passengers and is the busiest airport in Asia. LIT Minister Chikage Ohgi said the ministry expects to proceed on its own but hopes to drive down the project's cost. Insiders doubt she will find much savings.
Pilot bashers may not like it, but it's basic free enterprise that a product or service is worth the amount that changes hands. Otherwise both parties walk away. My employer can cut my pay in half and double my workload anytime he wants. If I balk, he can hire a replacement. This being America, us pilots might choose to stick together and could all end up being replaced. The fact that we haven't been speaks to supply and demand.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld is slowly growing his intelligence empire, a move that has raised questions about creating competition or duplication with the CIA. But at least publicly, the spooks say Rumsfeld's schemes don't bother them. "I fear no competition," James L. Pavitt, the CIA's deputy director for operations, told an American Bar Assn. forum. The clandestine ops chief added that there are enough threats the U.S.
Eugene A. Cernan's commentary was appropriate and timely. We do need to get more young people interested in science, engineering, astronomy, etc. One of the problems is providing motivation. Offering a ride into space is one way, but the effort must be much broader. Acquiring an education in science is not easy; it requires dedication and a strong desire to work in this field. I may be old and cynical, but I believe one of the main motivations for youth is money, lots of money. Donald V. Hanson Woodinville, Wash.
The effects of lasers and other forms of directed energy on U.S. satellites will be researched by Metatech Corp. under a seven-year, $49-million contract awarded by the Air Force Research Laboratory's Directed Energy Directorate. The company will support the directorate's Satellite Assessment Center, analyzing and modeling spacecraft to determine how orbital systems might be affected by directed energy attacks.
Hong Kong-based investment firm Hutchison Whampoa (China) Ltd. has completed a buyout of Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Services International's stake in Guangzhou Aircraft Maintenance Engineering Co. Ltd. (Gameco), one of China's largest MRO facilities. When LMASI announced early last year that it wanted out of the joint venture, a few international airlines expressed an interest in its shares, but Hutchison Whampoa exercised its preemptive rights, and now owns Gameco with China Southern Airlines.
The U.S. space program is this week completing one of the most intensive periods of astronaut-tended science it has ever flown, combining sprint-like around-the-clock research by the Columbia's STS-107 crew with more marathon-type investigations by the International Space Station Expedition 6 team. Both crews are performing basic and applied commercial research, applicable to broad aerospace, medical and industrial sectors, as well as more traditional space areas.
